Two Maplewood Artists Among 49 NJ Students to Win National Recognition in Art

By TAPINTO SOMA STAFF

April 30, 2017 at 2:05 AM

By TAPINTO SOMA STAFF

April 30, 2017 at 2:05 AM

MONTCLAIR, NJ - The nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers has announced the national winners of the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the "country’s longest-running and most prestigious award and recognition program for creative teens in grade 7–12," according to a release from the organization.

In the Northern New Jersey region, 49 students in total, including two from Columbia High School, were awarded national medals from a panel of distinguished judges. The students all submitted their work to the competition through the Montclair Art Museum (MAM).

Micah Maben of Maplewood received a Gold Medal in the sculpture category for his piece, "Joined."

Turner Andrasz of Maplewood was recognized in the painting category with a Silver Medal for his work, "Orange Triptych."

MAM is the sole affiliate sponsor of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in New Jersey, the ninth year MAM has served in this capacity. The Museum administers the regional awards annually in February, and recipients of the highest level of regional award, Gold Key, move on to the national competition. Within the Awards’ 29 categories, which include poetry, photography, sculpture, humor, editorial cartoons, and video game design, a record-breaking 330,000 works of art and writing were submitted for adjudication at the regional level this year. Works are judged on originality, technical skill, and the emergence of personal vision or voice.

Awards in the Portfolio category are given to a selection of up to eight works by seniors that are judged as a unit; other awards are issued by individual artwork and students can earn more than one award.

The 49 northern NJ students received 55 national awards total. The recipients are listed below by Name, Town, Grade, and School:

Sung Won Yoon, Tenafly, 12, Tenafly High School (also the American Visions Medal)

2017 Special Scholarships and Awards, NJ Winners (4):

The New York Life Foundation Award provides six $1,000 scholarships to students whose work exemplifies how the arts can act as a positive outlet to cope with loss and death, and whose work raises public awareness of the issue of youth bereavement. This year’s recipients included Raymond Tang, Warren, New Jersey.

The second-annual Editorial Cartoon category, sponsored by The Herb Block Foundation, celebrates the legacy of four-time Pulitzer Prize–winning political cartoonist Herb Block and his remarkable contribution to American history and free expression. The three teen artists who received The Herb Block Award for Editorial Cartoon, a $1,000 scholarship for their outstanding drawings, illustrations, or animations offering commentary on current events or political topics, included Patricia Patalinjug, Nutley, New Jersey.

The Gedenk Award for Tolerance provides six $1,000 scholarships to work that addresses the Gedenk Movement’s mission, reflecting on lessons learned from the Holocaust and other genocides, and increasing tolerance in the world. This year’s recipients included Suzan Kim, Hackensack, New Jersey.

Five works are nominated out of all regional Gold Key works across all categories as the “Best in Show” for each region; the national jurors chose the best of the five for the American Visions Medal. This year’s NJ American Visions Medal went to Sung Won Yoon, Tenafly, New Jersey.

The winners will be celebrated at two events in New York City in June:

June 8: National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall: The Gold Portfolio, Gold Medal, and Silver Medal with Distinction students across the nation will be honored at Carnegie Hall with appearances by notable celebrities and creative leaders.

June 2-12: Art.Write.Now.2017 National Exhibition: More than 1,000 of the top Scholastic Art & Writing Awards visual and literary works will be on display for the public at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons School of Design at The New School and Pratt Institute’s Pratt Manhattan Gallery in New York City.

“Our wonder and amazement at the creative output of our country’s youth —and the dedication of our extraordinary educators—never ceases, and this year is no exception,” said Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit organization that presents the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. “The young people being recognized today for the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are to be celebrated for their creative and critical thinking, their bravery in telling their own stories on their own terms, and their inventiveness in recording and recreating their worlds. Watch closely, because among this 2,500 are members of the next generation of great American artists and writers.”

“The body of work submitted this year demonstrated the outstanding artistic talent in New Jersey,” said Leah Fox, Director of the Vance Wall Art Education Center at MAM. “The Montclair Art Museum is thrilled to once again host the Scholastic Art Award competition as part of the range of programs for teens it offers to enrich their knowledge and practice of arts and culture.”

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